The purpose of the CEO’s annual report is to provide an update to the board of trustees regarding the MAT’s management, organisation and operation information. The report starts by providing tables to complete, which outline basic information about the trust, including a table stating the trust’s name, details regarding governance and the date the report was completed. Next is a section entitled ‘Trust context’, which should be used to state contextual information, such as the percentage of pupils with SEND.

The ‘Trust objectives’ section should state the trust’s objectives and then explain if and how the report supports each objective, as well as outlining any further action that should be taken.

The ‘Overview of individual academy performance’ section should only include details of areas that are causing concern, for example, poor outcomes for boys in math, and similarly, details of areas which are exceeding expectations, such as outstanding outcomes for boys in math. The report has space to include the outcomes of the trust’s last Ofsted or regional schools commissioners (RSC) inspection, with space to outline any action that was taken as a result of the inspection.

The next sections pertain to anticipating risks, highlighting any incidents that occurred and establishing measures that can limit risks and incidents. The risk register should be used to anticipate any scenario that may cause risk to the trust, such as risk to income due to falling pupil numbers or poor Ofsted inspections which may cause a reputational risk, and then to establish the most effective measures for eliminating the risk. Any notable incidents that have occurred since the previous CEO report should be noted, and the measures that were implemented as a result should be outlined in the relevant column of the table. The ‘Board of trustee priority areas’ section follows the risk register and the notable incidents sections and outlines the areas which are a main concern for the board of trustees – often these concerns will be the result of something established within the risk register or notable incidents sections.

The report should outline all notable updates, such as updating the board of trustees on equality and diversity in the trust, a personnel update, an update on the objectives of the trust’s strategic plan and an update on statutory compliance.

The report should cover an analysis of the trust’s marketing materials and recent publicity, explaining how they support the trust's strategic plan and school improvement plan (SIP).

The final section of the report should establish any other updates or reviews that should take place, outlining how these will be conducted and who by.